Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Christmas Decorations at My House 2011

There are so many holiday home tours going on right now, I felt like I should take a day to do a post with a few pictures of our Christmas tree and some of the decorations I put up this year. I hope you like lots of pictures!

This is our main family tree.

It's real, and it's fabulous. T actually picked it out at our local Lowe's, and I love how full it is. What I do not like is the fact that getting lights on it caused me to have a psychotic break with reality that will forever go down in family lore. I ended up having to decorate the tree twice because of lighting issues. Words were shrieked out that small children should never hear, and I may or may not have contemplated tossing the entire tree through the front window.

At any rate, I love the tree now. It doesn't have a special theme. Just lots of ornaments that tell our family story.

Some are beautiful beaded pieces that my dad made for my Granny:

Some are preschool creations from my kids that I treasure:

Some are ornaments from my childhood and T's, including the hideous Big Bird Head Ornament, which is the bane of my holiday existence:

And a few are just fun ornaments from travels, Hallmark or they're simply pretty:

I did my usual "Charlie Brown" tree in the kitchen, complete with cookie cutter, dough, and antique chocolate mold ornaments. I also added my Framed Glitter Christmas Tree, some antique ornaments in an old jar, and a candle with more ornaments in an apothecary jar.

Our Family room sports its usual Nutcracker collection. My mom started it for me when I got my first role in the ballet years ago. I keep the large ones on top of my armoire, and the eleventy-billion small ones are on top of a bookcase in the dining room. I change up the levels with books and a little antique trunk.

The dining room is a bit of a mess, but I attempted to throw something together on the $15 sideboard I have yet to paint. I had an idea for a neat large framed piece to go on the wall, but haven't had a chance to work on it.

I love the girlie tree in the addition...lots of pretty jewel tones and snowflakes. And colored lights on the tree. I'm usually a clear lights kinda girl, so the colored ones are really fun. The tree skirt is made up of tutus from The Dollar Tree.

So there you have it. I kept things pretty simple...I didn't put up all of the extra fake trees, some of the garland didn't make it down from the attic, and I didn't feel like messing with many of the tchotchkes and making more clutter on top of the 846 Barbies that occupy our home. My Christmas decor is completely blah compared to so many of those beautiful homes you'll find on other blogs or websites, but this is how we roll this year. I actually feel better with less stuff floating around!

There's not much different from last year's tour, but if you're new, I hope you enjoyed seeing how we celebrate Christmas around here. Grab a mocha and some cookies, and let's visit!

33 comments:

Oh my goodness! I almost forgot about that big bird ornament! Lol! Where did you get those smaller skinny trees? I've been looking for one like that to put in the office/studio. Your home is lovely! Love all those nutcrackers, I have my own collection too :-)

Everything looks great! I love the real tree and I'm sorry you had to go through a bit of the crazies to get it looking so perfect. I had to take my tree apart because of lighting issues, too. And let's just say I'm glad there weren't children in the room. ;)

Love the girly tree, too. And the nutcracker collection is too cool! When I started my village collection, I was debating between the village, the carolers and nutcrackers. Ryan vetoed the carolers because he thought they were creepy. Ended up going with village because my mom had one and I had many fond memories. Now, I kind of want to start a collection of nutcrackers, too. Too fun!

I love the nutcrackers and I've "pinned" the plastic spoon ornament because it is so simple and I've just started work as a kindergarten teacher so I'm always on the lookout for good ideas and it is a nice simple one.

Your home is just beautiful love it all. So happy to meet you I have enjoyed looking around. I have just found your lovely blog through the blog on Christmas cheer link wonderful to join in. I'm now following you hope you visit me sometime, follow back if you like so nice to find new friends to catch up with. Have a great day.Always Wendy

Amanda, your tree is stunning! I, too, put up many assorted ornies which tells a story of our family--even the flawed ornaments get a place on the tree. I love all the details---such a charming home. TFS!

This is Me

I'm a stay-at-home mom of three kids, a fluffy Pomeranian, and a rambunctious German Shepherd puppy. Happily married to T. We live in Virginia, but I secretly dream of what it would be like to have a place in NYC to escape to for random girls' shopping weekends. Target is my home away from home. I stay sane by doing creative projects around my home and taking lots of pictures. Stick around for realistic inspiration...on a budget!

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